Akademiliv

Sahlgrenska akademins nyheter

På Svenska
University of Gothenburg Logotype
  • News
  • Notices
  • Calendar
  • Grants
  • About Akademiliv

New platform for cancer diagnostics and drug testing

4 March, 2020

STUDY. Parts of tumor tissue, which is normally discarded in cancer surgery, bear information about the disease. So far, as studies at the University of Gothenburg show, this has been unexploited. This research forms the basis for a new experimental platform for cancer diagnostics, prognoses and testing cancer drugs.

The study published by the research group to date, in the journal Biomaterials, relates to breast cancer. Ongoing studies of colon, ovarian and other cancers also show positive results for the new technological platform and strategy.

In traditional cancer diagnostics, tumor cells in the extracted tissue are the targets of investigation. Depending on the form of cancer involved, more or less extensive molecular analyses and investigations of prognostic markers are performed.

For the patients with breast cancer in the current study, this was carried out routinely. The scientists then proceeded to apply the new technology, in cases where tumor tissue that had been removed was still available for them to analyze. Instead of looking at tumor cells, they studied the supporting structure (the “extracellular matrix”, ECM). This is composed partly of protein fibers around the cells and determining the structure of the tissue, like a kind of scaffold for tumor cells.

Relapses predictable

Anders Ståhlberg. Photo: Elin LIndström.

Anders Ståhlberg, Associate Professor of Molecular Medicine, is one of the two people primarily responsible for the study and platform.

“Normally,” he says, “we investigate tumor cells and get rid of the rest. Here, we do the reverse. What we look at are the extracellular matrices, and early on we found major differences among tumors from different patients. These differences were discoverable only from analyses of the ECMs.”

The scientists were able, for instance, to predict the risk of a recurrence of breast cancer, by studying the properties of the ECMs in various patients’ tissues. This was done by allowing cancer cell lines to grow in the matrices and then analyze how the scaffold affects them.

Göran Landberg. Foto: Johan Wingborg.

Göran Landberg, Professor of Pathology, is the other driving force for the research.

“Our results have clear connections with clinical parameters, such as how aggressive a tumor is. We’re now working on finding out which parts of the ECMs affected specific cancer-specific properties. The technology works, and we’ve been able to show that this is a superb experimental platform with major clinical potential,” he says.

Drug testing

Besides diagnostics and prognoses for the course of a cancer disease, the scientists see drug testing as an important area for the new platform. A drug candidate can then be tested in several individuals’ surgically removed tissue, to explore its potential efficacy in various patients with cancer.

The purpose of the model is to ascertain which patients will benefit from a treatment before it is commenced. Another advantage is that the use of animal testing can decrease.Göran Landberg and Anders Ståhlberg belong to Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and the Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine. A key partner in the study is the state-owned Rise, Research Institutes of Sweden AB.Title: Patient-derived scaffolds uncover breast cancer promoting properties of the microenvironment; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961219308233.

TEXT: MARGARETA GUSTAFSSON KUBISTA

By: Elin Lindström
Tagged With: institutionen för biomedicin

Add your own events in the Akademiliv Calendar

The Akademiliv newsletter has paused for summer. In the autumn, you will receive the first regular newsletter on August 24th.

Collected links regarding the war in Ukraine

We are building at Medicinareberget

You will now find comprehensive information on construction projects that affect the Sahlgrenska Academy in the Staff Portal.

Lunch menus

Café & restaurang Anatomen

Gastronomen på SU

Lunchen.nu

Lyktan lunchservering

Lustgården på Änggårdsbacken

Café Anne Dahl

More news

Sahlgrenska Life: The Västra Götaland Region’s Board decided on preparatory work in the hospital area

27 June, 2022

CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION. Akademiliv provides information on construction projects on Medicinareberget for the period weeks 26 – 34 (June 27 – Aug …  

Sahlgrenska Academy awards honorary doctorates to Jens Nielsen and Michael Treschow

27 June, 2022

APPOINTMENTS. Professor Jens Nielsen and Michael Treschow, a prominent businessman, have been appointed as honorary doctors at Sahlgrenska …  

Summer wishes from Dean Agneta Holmäng

23 June, 2022

CHRONICLE. In her last letter to staff and students this semester, Agneta Holmäng focuses especially on two matters that caused a big flurry of …  

The University’s work with research areas

22 June, 2022

PROFILE AREAS. Which areas should be designated as special research areas at the University of Gothenburg? This issue will be investigated in the …  

See Natrium from the inside – open tour September 30

22 June, 2022

The construction project invites staff and students at the Faculty of Science and Sahlgrenska Academy on September 30 in the afternoon. With less …  

Magnet makes life science research visible at the Swedish NMR centre

21 June, 2022

CONDITIONS OF RESEARCH. Outside the Swedish NMR Centre, at the Hasselblad laboratory on Medicinareberget, a large magnet has recently been set …  

Nominate members to the consultative assembly for election of a vice-chancellor

20 June, 2022

VICE-CHANCELLOR ELECTION. Sahlgrenska Academy will appoint 13 members to the consultative assembly, which is preparing the appointment of a …  

Stem cells can become a treatment for common joint disease

20 June, 2022

RESEARCH COOPERATION. In the future, it is hoped that stem cells can be used to treat osteoarthritis, the world’s most common joint disease. R …  

Innovation from within when Vinnova visited Gothenburg

20 June, 2022

INTERACTION. Life science and collaboration among the medical system, academia, and the private sector was the main theme when Vinnova, Sweden’s i …  

Protein Research: Increased Access to Knowledge and Support

16 June, 2022

CONDITIONS OF RESEARCH. With Protein Production Sweden (PPS), a new national infrastructure has taken shape. Expression, production and …  

More news...

Sahlgrenska Academy

© University of Gothenburg
PO-Box 100, S-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Phone: 00 46 31 786 0000

About the website

Elin Lindström is editor for Akademiliv.
Please feel free to send your ideas and comments to akademiliv@gu.se

Sign up for the Akademiliv newsletter:

Send you tips to Akademiliv

Do you have a suggestion for news, grants, seminars or an education?
Send an email to Elin Lindström Claessen